Post-Truth 2017 D’oh!Post -Truth is the Word of the Year 2016. Post-Truth is a truth derived from what is felt not what actually is going on. Ideology over Information. For example the Backfire Effect. Conservatives invested in the idea that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The more the facts said no the more Bush supporters believed yes. If a fact challenges our view of the world we stick with our world view.

We live in Echo Chambers – bubbles of culture where our own values are reflected back to us by others who are similar to us. The Big Sort shows that people move to geographical areas of more or less openness: conservative and liberal constituencies that suit their own level of openness. Your chances of meeting someone who has different political views are decreasing.
The climate agenda was put forward in the language of liberal to other liberals who didn’t need convincing. Conservatives who spoke conservative could not hear the argument and rejected the agenda.

To be positive there is catch up going on here. Humans have always behaved with feelings not facts. Humans have always sought out similar humans to feel safe and protected. Humans are threatened by difference and change. If Humans feel unsafe and threatened they lash out indiscriminately.D’ohIt took Brexit and Trump to reveal this. Perhaps now there is a chance that dealing with peoples’ feelings rather than facts might lead to a more genuine understanding of others who don’t hold our own views. To understand that if we gain others must lose. Resources are finite, and becoming more so. Global Capitalism forgot that trading with people means dealing with others who are different from ourselves.
The playing field is levelling. Everyone feels they have a right to wealth.
It’s just that those who have the wealth are being threatened. People like you.
Post-Truth 2017 D’oh!

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2017All rights reservedDisclaimer:This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only.This article is designed to provoke argument and critique